I was not able to find a recorded birth for Benjamin & Sarah (Mitchell) Foss’s son, Israel Foss, in the Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias. Because of this I need to use alternate sources. Today I am checking out the Machias census records on ancestry.com to see if I can find new leads.

1810 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1810 Israel had three children. However, one of them had passed away in 1808. This left two adults and two children in the household at the time of enumeration. After reviewing the household composition in the census I can then build out a comparison table to the known birth records. This is very helpful when working in a census in a city that has a lot of households with the same names.

Males

1 – Under 10 (Charles)

1 – 26-44 (Israel)

Females

1- Under 10 (Betsey)

1- 16-25 (Betsey)

Birth

Death

Approx. Age at

Enumeration

Israel

26-44

Betsey

16-25

Charles

14 Dec 1805

5

Sarah

1 Mar 1807

29 Nov 1808

Passed Away

Betsey

13 Mar 1809

1

1820 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

The total number in the household in 1820 is 9. This is made up of 2 parents and 7 children. Census enumeration and comparison chart is below.

Males

2 – Under 10 (James, John)

1 – 10-15 (Charles)

1 – 45 and Over (Israel)

Females

4- Under 10 (Sarah, Lucy, Mary, Betsey)

1- 26-44 (Betsy)

Birth

Death

Approx. Age at

Enumeration

Israel

45 +

Betsey

26-44

Charles

14 Dec 1805

15

Sarah

01 Mar 1807

29 Nov 1808

Passed Away

Betsey

13 Mar 1809

11

Mary

01 Jan 1812

8

Lucy

02 Mar 1814

02 Sep 1825

6

James

25 Aug 1815

5

John

25 Jul 1817

24 Jun 1833

3

Sarah

19 Sep 1819

1830 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1830 Israel had 12 children. Two of them had passed away by 1830. Furthermore, both Charles and Betsey, the two oldest children, should no longer living in Israel’s household. This would make the composition be the two parents and eight children.

Males

1 – Under 5 (Lucius)

1 – 5-9 (Albert)

2 – 10-14 (James, John)

1 – 50-59 (Israel)

Females

1 – Under 5 (Lucy)

2 – 5-9 (Caroline, Sarah)

1 – 15-19 (Mary)

1 – 40-49 (Betsey)

Birth

Death

Approx. Age at

Enumeration

Israel

50-59

Betsey

40-49

Charles

14 Dec 1805

25

Sarah

01 Mar 1807

29 Nov 1808

Passed Away

Betsey

13 Mar 1809

21

Mary

01 Jan 1812

18

Lucy

02 Mar 1814

02 Sep 1825

Passed Away

James

25 Aug 1815

15

John

25 Jul 1817

24 Jun 1833

13

Sarah

19 Sep 1819

11

Caroline

07 Sep 1822

8

Albert

10 Jul 1824

6

Lucy

11 Jul 1826

4

Lucius

25 Jul 1829

1

1840 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1840 Israel had 13 children. 3 of them had passed away by 1840 (Sarah, Lucy, and John). 6 had moved out (Charles, Betsey, Mary, James, Sarah, and Caroline). 4 remained in the household (Albert, Lucy, Lucius, and Henry).

Males

1 – 5-9 (Henry)

1 – 10-14 (Lucius)

1 – 15-19 (Lucy)

1 – 60-69 (Israel)

Females

1 – 10-14 (Lucy)

1 – 50-59 (Betsey)

Birth

Death

Approx. Age at

Enumeration

Israel

60-69

Betsey

50-59

Charles

14 Dec 1805

35

Sarah

01 Mar 1807

29 Nov 1808

Passed Away

Betsey

13 Mar 1809

31

Mary

01 Jan 1812

28

Lucy

02 Mar 1814

02 Sep 1825

Passed Away

James

25 Aug 1815

25

John

25 Jul 1817

24 Jun 1833

Passed Away

Sarah

19 Sep 1819

21

Caroline

07 Sep 1822

18

Albert

10 Jul 1824

16

Lucy

11 Jul 1826

14

Lucius

25 Jul 1829

11

Henry

23 Apr 1831

9

1850 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

In 1850 the Census began enumerating all members of the household and detailed each persons age. In addition to the complete enumeration of the entire family, they also started clearly labeling the day when the enumeration took place.

Israel is listed at 77 years old and the date of enumeration was on July 16, 1850. This would put his birth between July 16, 1772 and Jul 15, 1773.

Betsey is listed at 63 years old. This would put her birth between July 16, 1786 and Jul 15, 1787.

Dwelling

Families

Name

Age

Sex

Profession

Value

Of

Real Estate Owned

Place

Of

Birth

13

16

Israel Foss

77

m

Laborer

Maine

Betsey “

63

f

“

Henry “

19

m

“

The last thing for me to do is line up the age of Israel and Betsey with the 1810 to 1840 Censuses. I like to verify that the ages match the range.

1810

1820

1830

1840

Israel

26-44

37

45-over

47

50-59

57

60-69

67

Betsey

16-25

23

26-44

33

40-49

43

50-59

53

Based on the evidence above I think I can conclusively state that Israel was born between July 16, 1772 and Jul 15, 1773.

Next steps for me is to go back through the Town Records to see if I can find a Betsey or Elizabeth Connors that was born between Jul 1786 and Jul 1787.